When providing voice and/or data service from a Central Office (CO) to Customer Premise Equipment (CPE), a building entrance protector (BEP) having a plurality of modular jacks may be provided at the CPE and serves as the point of demarcation between the service provider and customer premise location. Equipment (including wiring) located on the customer side of the BEP is the customer's responsibility, and equipment (including wiring) located on the CO side of the BEP is the service provider's responsibility.
A modular jack is typically provided for each communication line from the service provider, and each line may also include an electronic device such as, for example, a maintenance test unit (MTU) or a half-ringer, hard-wired at the BEP in the line and in series with the modular jack. To diagnose a problem on a particular line from the CO to the customer premise location, the service provider can execute diagnostic tests remotely (i.e., from the CO) to activate the in-line electronics device. With this hard-wired configuration, only a single type of electronic device may be provided in each line from the CO. Moreover, replacement and/or upgrade of an existing in-line electronic device requires that the existing device be severed from the line and a new device be hard-wired in its place. This process can be both time-consuming and expensive.
It is thus desirable to provide a means for inserting and removing an electronic device from a communication line that overcomes the above-described shortcomings of the prior art.